Vagos Open Air

VOA – Heavy Rock Festival (formerly VOA Fest and Vagos Open Air) is an open-air heavy metal/hard rock festival held annually in Lisbon, Portugal. The festival is being held since 2009 in four different locations: the first four editions, from 2009 to 2012, were held in Calvão (a small town in the municipality of Vagos, near Aveiro), the next three (2013 to 2015) were held in the town of Vagos, the following two editions (2016 and 2017) were held in Corroios, a city in the municipality of Seixal, and after a year break the festival is scheduled to return in 2019 in Lisbon. It is organized by Prime Artists, a Portuguese event promoter.

VOA – Heavy Rock Festival
Genre	Heavy metal, hard rock and all its sub-genres
Dates	July–August
Location(s)	Lisbon, Portugal
Years active	2009–2017, 2019–present
Website	voa.rocks

The origins of a music festival in the Aveiro region are traced to a small event, called Rock in Ria, featuring a few Portuguese and international bands, but in 2009 that event gave way to a new full-fledged international festival which turned out to be one of the biggest heavy metal festivals in Portugal.

In late 2015, it was then announced the festival would relocate from Vagos to the city of Corroios. The name of the festival was also changed from Vagos Open Air to VOA Fest.[1] A few months later, the municipality of Vagos ensured the creation of a new heavy metal festival in the city, named Vagos Metal Fest.[2] The new festival held the first edition in 2016, featuring Dark Funeral and Helloween as headliners.

In 2018, after a sabbatical year, Prime Artists announced on their Facebook page the return of the event for 2019. It will return to a two-day festival, in July 4 and 5, change name (to VOA – Heavy Rock Festival), change location and venue (moving to Estádio do Restelo in city of Lisbon) and have Slipknot – one of the biggest names to ever perform in the festival – as one of the headliners.[3]

Lineups

2009

The year of 2009 saw the first incarnation of the festival, a two-day event held on Friday, 7 August and Saturday, 8 August at GD Calvão's football ground (Campo de Futebol Padre Batista) in the village of Calvão, near Vagos.

Friday	Saturday
F.E.V.E.R. Process of Guilt Kathaarsys Epica Katatonia The Gathering	Echidna Thee Orakle Dawn of Tears Cynic Dark Tranquillity Amon Amarth

2010

The 2010 edition was held on Friday, 6 August and Saturday, 7 August.

Friday	Saturday
Prayers of Sanity Miss Lava Gwydion Ensiferum My Dying Bride Meshuggah	The Firstborn Oblique Rain Ghost Brigade Amorphis Kamelot Carcass

2011

The 2011 edition was held on Friday, 5 August and Saturday, 6 August.

Friday	Saturday
Revolution Within Crushing Sun Essence Anathema Tiamat Opeth	We Are the Damned Malevolence Kalmah Ihsahn Devin Townsend Project Morbid Angel

2012

The 2012 edition was held on Friday, 3 August and Saturday, 4 August.

Friday	Saturday
Disaffected Northland Eluveitie Enslaved Arcturus At the Gates Nasum [Special guests]	Mindlock Chthonic Textures Coroner Overkill Arch Enemy

2013

The 2013 edition was held on Friday, 9 August and Saturday, 10 August. The festival was moved to Quinta do Ega, a place in the city of Vagos.

Friday	Saturday
Secret Lie Bizarra Locomotiva Moonsorrow Evergrey Sonata Arctica Lacuna Coil	Web Tarantula Rotting Christ Iced Earth Gamma Ray (replacing Saxon) Testament

2014

The 2014 edition saw Vagos Open Air became a three-day festival with the addition of Sunday. It was held on Friday, 8 August, Saturday, 9 August and Sunday, 10 August.

Friday	Saturday	Sunday
Gates of Hell Kandia Sylosis Soilwork Epica Kreator	Requiem Laus Angelus Apatrida The Haunted Behemoth Annihilator Opeth	Opus Diabolicum Murk Vita Imana The Quartet of Woah! Paradise Lost Gojira

2015

The 2015 edition was held on Friday, 7 August, Saturday, 8 August and Sunday, 9 August.

Friday	Saturday	Sunday
Scar for Life Moonshade Vildhjarta Heaven Shall Burn Amorphis Within Temptation	W.A.K.O. Mutant Squad Destruction Triptykon Black Label Society Venom Filii Nigrantium Infernalium [Special guests]	Midnight Priest Ne Obliviscaris Alestorm Orphaned Land Overkill Bloodbath Ironsword [Special guests]

2016

The 2016 edition was held on Friday, 5 August and Saturday, 6 August, returning to a two-day lineup. The festival was renamed VOA Fest and moved to Quinta da Marialva, a place in the city of Corroios, Seixal. A new festival called Vagos Metal Fest was created exactly on the same location of the past editions.

Friday	Saturday
Dark Oath Adimiron Mantar Katatonia Anathema Opeth	Soldier Equaleft Schammasch Abbath Paradise Lost Kreator

2017

The 2017 edition returned to a three-day format. For the first time, the festival was held on two stages, as a new secondary stage was added (exclusive to Portuguese bands). It was held on Friday, 4 August, Saturday, 5 August and Sunday, 6 August.

Palco Principal (Main Stage)
Friday	Saturday	Sunday
Process of Guilt The Charm The Fury Insomnium Epica Carcass	Terror Empire Childrain Death Angel Venom Apocalyptica	Colosso Killus Obituary The Dillinger Escape Plan Trivium

Palco LOUD! (LOUD! Stage)
Friday	Saturday	Sunday
Névoa Earth Drive The Black Wizards	Adamantine Cruz de Ferro Rasgo	Don't Disturb My Circles Grog The Ominous Circle

2019

The 2019 edition will return once again to a two-day format. Renamed to VOA – Heavy Rock Festival, it will be held on Estádio do Restelo, in the city of Lisbon, on Thursday, 4 July and Friday, 5 July.

Thursday	Friday
Rasgo While She Sleeps Thormentor Trivium Arch Enemy Slipknot	W.A.K.O. Cane Hill Moonspell Gojira Lamb of God Slayer

External links

• Prime Artists official website

References

1. "Vagos Open Air muda-se para Corroios e anuncia os primeiros nomes", Wav Magazine, 14 January 2016. Retrieved on 22 August 2017.
2. "Realização de Festival Heavy Metal Vagos 2016", Município de Vagos. Retrieved on 22 August 2017.
3. "Slipknot atuam em julho em Lisboa no Voa - Heavy Rock Festival" [Slipknot will perform in July in Lisbon at Voa - Heavy Rock Festival] (in Portuguese), Diário de Notícias, 23 October 2018. Retrieved on 23 October 2018.